FIGHT OF THE WEEK

Outlook: Henderson (29-10) is coming off back-to-back split-decision losses to Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. Belfort (23-10) has scored spectacular KOs over Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping. Belfort dropped a unanimous decision to Henderson in their first encounter at Pride 32 in 2006.

Prediction: Belfort is hotter than any fighter on the UFC roster. The Brazilian KO artist will keep on rolling with a victory.

Record in 2013 picks: 28-10

CARLOS ARIAS

Michael “Joker” Guymon of Lake Forest said his fight against Aaron Miller at Bellator 106 this past weekend at Long Beach Arena would be his last.

The 14-year veteran said he was going to retire win or lose.

“Joker” couldn't have picked a better way to go out. The former King of the Cage welterweight champion and UFC veteran scored a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Miller to get a submission in the second round.

“I’m just ecstatic; I couldn’t have written it any better,” Guymon told MMAWeekly.com. “I didn’t want a fight that I just ran over someone. I got to perform, show a lot of different skills, and show I could do things under adversity.

“As soon as I slapped the triangle on (in the second round), I knew the fight was over and he was going to tap because it was just so tight. As soon as he stopped it, I was crying because I was so happy.”

NOTES

Bellator MMA had its highest ratings with Bellator 106 this past weekend at Long Beach Arena on Spike TV. The card was originally scheduled to be shown on pay-per-view, but got moved to Spike TV when Tito Ortiz injured his neck and was forced to pull out of his fight with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Even without Ortiz and Jackson, it was the strongest lineup of fights Bellator has ever put on and the 3-hour, 45-minute broadcast averaged 1.1 million viewers with a peak of 1.4 million viewers.

Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler engaged in a 5-round rematch of 2011's fight of the year, and Alvarez pulled out a razor-thin split decision. Spike TV will replay Alvarez-Chandler II on Friday at 8 p.m. leading in to its live telecast of Bellator 107 at 9 p.m. ...

After a long and protracted legal battle with Bellator that prevented Alvarez from joining the UFC, UFC president Dana White took great delight in Alvarez's triumph over Chandler. White congratulated Alvarez via Twitter and took a jab at Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney in the process.

“@danawhite If Fight of the Year & 10 times better ratings than you did on your last televised show is Karma, bring me another plate,” Rebney wrote on Twitter. ...

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has already landed a spot on the cover of EA Sports upcoming UFC video game and fans can vote for an additional cover athlete via a 16-fighter tournament. But one fighter has noticeably been left off the bracket – UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. EA Sports representatives have stated the team was unable to reach a deal with Velasquez.

“I would like Cain to be in there, but I think there were other reasons for Cain not coming to a deal,” White said during a conference call Tuesday.

“I just think that Cain felt that he's the heavyweight champion, and he doesn't want to be in a vote to see if he should be on the cover. I think that was his (mindset), and what am I going to do about that? Am I going to disagree with him? He's like, ‘I'm the heavyweight champion. I've got to be voted on whether I should be on the cover of the game? The heavyweight champ? If you don't think I should be, then I don't want to be in a vote.' I can't blame him for that.” ...

White said Uriah Hall will not be reprimanded for his role in the brawl with Jason “Mayhem” Miller at a BAMMA USA event last month in Los Angeles. Miller allegedly used racial slurs during the confrontation. White said he actually will give Hall a “bonus” for how he handled the situation.

“We don't ever want our fighters fighting outside of the octagon, but guess what? There's gonna be situations where men need to handle their business and that's one of those cases,” White said. “First of all, ‘Mayhem’ Miller, how this guy is still walking the (expletive) streets of America is beyond me, No. 1. No. 2, he deserved what he got from Uriah Hall. It's no different from the situation with Roger Huerta, right? Roger Huerta was in a situation where a guy punched a girl in the face and knocked her out, knocked her unconscious. Then Roger Huerta knocked him out.” ...

On the latest video to promote UFC 167 on Nov. 16, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre said of his opponent, Johny Hendricks, “I'm better than him everywhere the fight might go.” ...

Alexander Gustafsson has a new opponent for his return to the octagon. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was forced to pull out of the fight because of an injury and now Jimi Manuwa will face Gustafsson on March 8 at O2 Arena in London, UFC officials announced this week. The main card airs on Fox Sports 2.

Outlook: Henderson (29-10) is coming off back-to-back split-decision losses to Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. Belfort (23-10) has scored spectacular KOs over Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping. Belfort dropped a unanimous decision to Henderson in their first encounter at Pride 32 in 2006.

Prediction: Belfort is hotter than any fighter on the UFC roster. The Brazilian KO artist will keep on rolling with a victory.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.